Uncertainty over what could happen if Druid Hills gets annexed by Atlanta drew more than 100 people to an informational meeting with state and local officials Thursday.
The event at Druid Hills High School, organized by the school’s PTSA, revealed fissures in a once cohesive school cluster. Residents calling themselves “Together in Atlanta” want the city to annex part of the high school attendance zone, leaving the majority of students behind in unincorporated DeKalb County. DeKalb school board member Marshall Orson cautioned neighbors to watch what they say to each other “in this very emotional debate,” lest the annexation fail and they must continue sharing the high school.
A major point of contention: Advocates say Atlanta would take possession of all schools in the annexed area, including an elementary school now under reconstruction with DeKalb County School District money. Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan said a city school board member told him schools in annexed areas would become the property of Atlanta Public Schools. But Trenton Arnold, a DeKalb schools official, disagreed. “I think that’s still open for interpretation” by lawyers, he said.
DeKalb Superintendent Michael Thurmond said in December that he wants to set aside $2.5 million to hire legal and government affairs experts to help in “protecting what is naturally ours.” Though questions from the crowd Thursday suggested a desire to slow, if not stop, the annexation, a boisterous applause erupted when State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, said she thought Thurmond’s desire to “lawyer up to litigate” was unwise.
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